Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Chicago Blackhawks (28-7-7, 63 points) and New York Islanders (13-21-7, 33 points) hit the ice at the Nassau Coliseum in New York for their second and final meeting this season. The game can be live streamed here. Chicago fans can hear all of the action by adjusting their radios to 720 WGN while New York fans can do the same on WRHU 88.7.
Chicago has the most points in the NHL and will finally have its No.1 goalie back tonight while the Islanders enter play off of a win but have struggled to hold leads thus far this season. The first time these two teams met, the Blackhawks won 3-2 on Oct. 11 in Chicago.
The Blackhawks get goaltender Corey Crawford back for the first time since he was sidelined Dec. 8 with a lower-body injury.
"He's ready to go," Quenneville told NHL.com after practice Wednesday. "Looking forward to seeing him play. He's excited about it. He's going [Thursday]."
Crawford is 17-6-3 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .907 save percentage this season. The Islanders will likely counter with Evgeni Nabokov, who is 8-7-5 with a 2.89 GAA and a .903 save percentage.
The Islanders closed out 2013 in strong fashion with a 5-3 New Year's Eve victory over the visiting Boston Bruins.
"We turned the page and did a better job in the second period," captain John Tavares said per NHL.com. "We got our legs going and it was good to see the power play come through in a big way."
Tavares paces the Islanders and is fourth in the NHL scoring race with 44 points off of 16 goals and 28 assists while Kyle Okposo has found the twine 15 times and added 25 helpers for 40 points and Frans Nielsen has 15 markers and 17 assists for 32 points.
Patrick Kane has led the Blackhawks with 53 points off of 23 goals and 30 assists while Patrick Sharp has lit the lamp 22 times and added 19 helpers for 41 points and Jonathan Toews has found the back of the net 15 times and added 25 assists for 40 points.
The Blackhawks look to keep their spot atop the NHL while the Islanders will try to string together a win to start 2014 when these teams faceoff tonight at the Nassau Coliseum in New York.
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